You May Not Believe It .....

..... But I have more wedding work to show off! Yes, I know, you thought, "How many is this now? This really has got to come to an end soon!" And you're right: the end is, in fact, in sight, my friends, after many long months of putting together -- let's see, how many now? -- um, six wedding orders so far. Just one more to finish, and I'm home free for this season!

Anyway, today I'm publishing photos of pieces I did for two separate collections, both in gorgeous turquoise, of which I'm a huge fan. Hope you enjoy!

My Newest Hobby

One of my New Year's resolutions this year was to send more real mail. You remember, handwritten letters -- actual paper and envelopes that require stamps, that sort of thing. So I've been making cards for most of my friends every month, which is great, because it gives me an excuse to collect more pretty papers, laces, tapes and embellishments, and to perfect my amateur paper-crafting skills. And a little while back, my very talented friend Evan explained to me how I could make my own stamps, so I took a trip to the craft store last week to produce some pretty silhouette stamps: the one on the right is Jane Austen's, and the one on the left is a little girl's. Not too bad for a first-timer, if I do say so myself.

Next, I made a card recently for a super-sweet Etsy seller with whom I arranged a trade of items, as a thank you for the trade. She and I are both in love with Britain, so I made a cut-out template of the Union Jack and put it on the front of her card, in cheery moss green, pink, and with the addition of a lace-patterned paper tape. The inside is embellished with the same green patterned paper, a pink Martha Stewart paper lace I found at Michael's, and a beautiful little vintage ledger-paper heart punch on top of which I put a pretty little bird punched out of a thin birch-wood veneer card.

I also put together a little bag of vintage and handmade goodies to go along with the card. I included a vintage hankie from my collection, a pair of earrings in coral, her favorite color, a few paper punches of vintage lined notebook paper on which I used one of my silhouette stamps, some tiny butterfly punches of vintage ledger paper, a yard of gorgeous vintage lace, scalloped punches of a vintage wallpaper, and some little pink bird punches. I packaged it all up in a handmade envelope I made using the same green patterned paper.

So that's what I've been up to this weekend. I plan to keep going for a little while on the paper crafting today, make a quick trip to the post office to send off some pretty packages, then settle in on the couch for Masterpiece Classic tonight! Hooray! And happy weekend to all of you.

Big Shop Update

Yay! I've been super busy for the past week photographing and listing a lot of new items in my shop! I hope you'll stop by and check out the new lovelies, but if you're short on time, here's a preview: 

Feels great to have the shop stocked up again. I'd love to hear your feedback on the new items! I've been trying to put some simpler pieces in for those who don't wear a lot of jewelry, or who favor the understated over the complicated. Any thoughts?

Three Down, Four to Go!

I'm happy to present the latest update on completed wedding orders: silver and classic pearls for bridesmaids wearing sunny yellow.

I'd love to hear your thoughts! Favorite colors of the season?

I ♥ Coral

Completed another wedding collection this weekend for a lovely local bride; this one's monochromatic, in lush coral, with beautiful gold accents. Dainty necklaces and simple stud earrings: perfect for a sweet summer wedding!

The Hole I've Been Hiding In .....

Is called "Custom Wedding Orders." Making progress, though: two down, three to go!

The one I finished up this week is a set for a California bride who's doing a "Retro Fun" wedding in Palm Springs. Bridesmaids resplendent in beautiful "pool blue." (All nine of them! Whew!)

 

More of my latest adventures soon.

Re-Inspired

I think I'm finally ready to come back now. I've been busier than ever since the holidays with four (soon to be five) custom wedding sets, with paper crafting, and making new things for the shop, which will, with any luck, be receiving some pretty new additions in the coming weeks.

I want to thank you, my lovely readers, for being patient with me during my little hiatus, and also to beg your continued indulgence if I'm not here quite as frequently as I used to be. I've come to the conclusion that blogging should be about being inspired and sharing inspiration with others, and when I felt lately like it's just one more thing on an impossibly long to-do list, it becomes a stressor rather than an overflow of creativity. So I'm going to approach it in the future with the mindset that I'll share when I have something to share, and not bore you with nonsense when I don't.

The wonderful Debee Campos of Art As Life (incredible blog) and InspireLovely (beautiful shop) is a perpetual source of inspiration to me, so I can't think of anything more appropriate than including her in today's post. She's running a giveaway on her blog right now of several beautiful Valentine's Day themed items from her shop, so be sure to enter after taking a few minutes to marvel at the loveliness (I always do) and to be inspired yourself (I always am).

It's nice to be back. Thank you for reading.

Etsy Treasure Tuesday: Packagery

I'm having a difficult time getting into the Christmas swing this year for several reasons.

1: It's the middle of December and it's 80 degrees outside here! What is going on!?

2: I did almost all of my Christmas shopping online this year, so I (happily) missed that whole "rushing out to buy gifts" experience that usually signals the season's beginning.

3: I was so busy leading up to Thanksgiving and at the beginning of this month that I haven't had time to put up the Christmas tree, so my house looks just the same as for the other 11 months of the year, except dirtier and with a lone little aqua wreath lounging on the piano.

Despite the fact that I don't have a tree to put the presents under,

I do love wrapping them. I love the creativity I get to exhibit, and I love the pretty papers and ribbons and trims. Which is why I chose Packagery for today's Etsy feature, and why I'm feeling a little more in the mood to put on Bing's "White Christmas" and get started.

Doesn't that make you want to stop what you're going and play in the floor with all of the pretties? Me too. Happy Tuesday and happy wrapping, friends!

My DIY Wreath

I'm not sure if any of you will remember that last year in December, I put up a DIY post about how to make this adorable ruffle wreath with felt circles. I bought the materials right around Christmas last year, but didn't get around to making it in time to put up for the holidays. But last weekend, I finally sat down and put together the pretty little wreath below.

I decided to wrap it in (of course) aqua yarn, then I attached my 85 or so circles of ivory felt. Unfortunately, they didn't quite cover the whole wreath. I like the fact that you can see the pretty yarn, but it still looks funny to me, so I need y'all's opinion on the finishing touches. Should I buy more felt to cover it completely? Or should I remove some of the circles so that it's mostly a yarn wreath with a band of ruffles? And what should I embellish with? I bought some vintage-style bottlebrush trees with which I was going to plant a little forest on the bottom of the ring, but I tried to spray paint them gold, and learned to my dismay that bottlebrush trees are impervious to spray paint (at least mine were, after 5 solid minutes of spraying). I could hang some mini Christmas ornaments from the top of the ring to dangle in the center, I suppose. Any other brilliant ideas?

I'd love to hear about any holiday craftiness you've been up to recently!

Etsy Treasure Tuesday: Laura Amiss

I fell in love with all of the gorgeous prints and textile artwork in Laura Amiss's Etsy shop at first glance. The colors make me happy, and the sweet themes make me giggle. I dare you not to smile immediately.

I think "Teapots" and "I Was Different" would be at the top of my list, but the cityscapes are close behind. So charming, yes?

{all images © Laura Amiss, and pulled from the Etsy shop}

Just .... A Little ..... Further .....

I'm this close to making my 200th sale in the Etsy shop {picture me doing the thumb and first finger thing with my face scrunched up}, so I wanted to invite you guys to help me out with that; if you've been thinking of doing any of your Christmas shopping at pink street, go ahead and jump on that! I'm offering a special little free gift to be included with the next four sales, which will be wrapped beautifully and packaged with extra attention (because that's how I roll).

So go ahead, please, make my day!

Holiday Trading

So thrilled that I made it into the 2010 oh, hello friend Holiday Trade Guide! It's such a fantastic way to discover other artists on Etsy, and get some of my shopping done without spending any money! Hooray for supporting each other and being thrifty!

Check out Danni's lovely collection here, and if you make things and are interested in arranging a trade with me, visit my shop here! (That's my Meryton necklace, at the bottom left. Sold a few days ago, but there's lots more prettiness where that came from.)